South-west England

Thieves in Chipping Campden have struck at the core of the Court Barn Museum’s collection of Arts & Crafts silver and jewellery.

When this cabinet on stand appeared in the inventory of a Gloucestershire home in the 1920s it was described simply as ‘An old Italian Cabinet of ebony and Tortoiseshell’. In fact, it is Flemish rather than Italian and was probably made in Antwerp in the first half of the 17th century.

The interest in studio pottery goes beyond the premier names in the field. Three pieces by Waistel Cooper (1921-2003), a Scot who worked first in Porlock in Somerset and later from the Barbican Pottery in Penzance, generated plenty of bidding at Greenslade Taylor Hunt’s (19% buyer’s premium) July 6 sale in Taunton.

Coming up next for Cooper Events is the second of three annual Cotswolds Decorative Fairs, which take place in the grand hall of Westonbirt School in Burnham-on-Sea.

Purchased at the Great Exhibition of 1851, the ‘Industrial Exhibition of All Nations’ jigsaw type game shown here sold for £1350 at Lawrences (22% buyer’s premium) on June 16.

Leading the sale of Arts & Crafts at the Woolley & Wallis June 21 sale was the monumental Pilkington’s Lancastrian vase shown above, standing some 48cm (19in) high.

It was, said specialist Michael Jeffery, “one of, if not the finest, collections of Burmantofts put together by a private individual”.

The Charles Dickens Birthday Book, edited by his eldest daughter, Mary, and illustrated by his youngest, Kate, was published in 1882, 12 years after the writer’s death.

“If I was a dealer, I’d buy the whole lot and put on a show. He’s a sort of great ‘undiscovered’ artist.” Mimi Lay of the Penzance auction house David Lay is referring to a consignment of graphic art by the 20th century painter and lithographer Richard Platt (b.1928).

While many in the trade believe the future lies in specialisation, Gloucestershire auction house Dominic Winter (20% buyer’s premium) is making significant inroads into the general market beyond its renown as expert in books, maps and other works on paper.

Highly collectable in itself, this 1920s car showroom lightbox advertising sign, right, had extra appeal to one bidder at automobilia specialists Richard Edmonds’ (20% buyer’s premium) sale at Chippenham on June 16.

Originally entered for a general sale at Charterhouse Auctions (20% buyer’s premium), a distinctive little walnut table with brass leg attachments caught the eye of auctioneer Richard Bromell who diverted it to the fine sale in the Sherborne rooms on June 22.

Entered by a leading UK college, two very similar pairs of mid-18th century mahogany lecterns, one illustrated above, became the focus of two major West Country dealers at Tayler & Fletcher’s (20% buyer’s premium) June 22 sale at Bourton-in-the-Water.

Paul Kembery of Kembery Antique Clocks in the West Country is a regular exhibitor at Antiques for Everyone and will stand at the upcoming edition.

Original House, a Cotswolds dealership that specialises in industrial furniture, antique painted French furniture and unique interior objects, has branched out into contemporary art.